


Skyfire

by Esselle



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Prehistoric, Cavemen, Fluff and Humor, Injury Recovery, M/M, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27761869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esselle/pseuds/Esselle
Summary: "Tobio?" Shouyou gasps. "Tobio of the Blue Oak Clan?"Shouyou has seen him several times before, when Blue Oak has come to trade with Crow. Tobio always stood behind their leaders, silently towering over the rest, much taller than any of Shouyou's tribe (except Kei, but Tobio is nearly twice as broad). He is a warrior befitting his tribe of fighters, legendary hunters all. Even when he's lying down Shouyou can see how tall he is, and how sturdy.--me like kagehina. me write caveman fic. rc draw caveman art. you read.[words by Esselle, art by reallycorking.]
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 38
Kudos: 679
Collections: Eternal Zine, Stories by EssieCorking





	Skyfire

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for the KageHina Eternal zine! When me and RC decided to collab for this, we very jokingly started to throw around the idea of cavemen kagehina, and being us, it extremely quickly became a reality. Luv u RC <3

The season of scorching sky arrives one warm morning with a quickness that startles Shouyou. The skyfire that his (much taller) ancestors long before him flung into the great blue above has barely been kindled, embers of dawn only just flaring to life, and already the day is hot enough that he sweats, despite wearing his lightest furs. 

He doesn't let it stop him. It is the hot months he loves most, and he wipes the sweat dripping from his face and continues on through the grasses of the plains, over grass furrowed where so many feet have walked before. He makes music as he goes, though the words are mostly nonsense rather than tradition, not lyrical stories like the tale-weavers of his clan spin. He is likely scaring off the small game that he came out here to hunt, but he is looking for plants, too, and those cannot run away from his songs. 

In the distance, he sees a herd of mammoth, huge and lumbering. He likes them, when they're that far away. They look friendly, like he could go up and dance among them. But he knows better than that; he is friendly, too, but if someone strange came up to him and his tribe unannounced, they would be met with spears, not dancing. 

The Crow Clan is not made up of warriors, they are neither strong nor weak, but they protect each other as fiercely as any other clan, maybe more. And mammoths are like that; they don't kill like the great tusked cat, Sabertooth. But they will defend their herd.

He doesn't think woolly mammoth can dance, though. They are heavy on their feet, unlike him. But if he imagines them trying to dance, it makes him laugh all the louder.

He laughs and skips and sings until he comes upon the blood in the grass.

There's a trail of it, and the grass is flattened where it's colored red, as though something large was dragged through it. He follows the trail silently now, cautiously. It leads to an outcrop of boulders nestled into the grass. 

As he nears it, he begins to hear sounds that make him hesitate—a low, moaning growl. Something shifts about just out of sight, helpless. Shouyou holds his breath. If it's almost dead, can he finish it off and take it back to the tribe? Whatever it is, it's much more substantial than a rabbit. He creeps over the ridge of the rocks and… 

Freezes. Staring back at him are a pair of deep blue eyes, as easy to get lost in as the great blue above. They aren't the dull eyes of a deer or a mammoth. 

These are the eyes of a man. And even more startling, _Shouyou knows him._

"Tobio?" he gasps. "Tobio of the Blue Oak Clan?"

Shouyou has seen him several times before, when Blue Oak has come to trade with Crow. Tobio always stood behind their leaders, silently towering over the rest, much taller than any of Shouyou's tribe (except Kei, but Tobio is nearly twice as broad). He is a warrior befitting his tribe of fighters, legendary hunters all. Even when he's lying down Shouyou can see how tall he is, and how sturdy. 

The man bares his teeth at him but his eyes flutter with the effort of keeping them open. He's wounded, badly, his arm slashed. Even more worrisome are the gashes stretching across his stomach. If he doesn't get help soon, he'll die. 

"Where is your clan?" Shouyou asks.

Tobio blinks slowly back. "No… clan…"

"What?" 

"Gone…" Tobio squints at him, struggling to focus. "Who… are you?" 

Before Shouyou can tell him, he slumps back against the rocks. Shouyou scrambles closer, and after a moment's hesitation, pokes Tobio's cheek with his finger. The man doesn't move. Softly, Shouyou wails—he thuds his head against Tobio's breast, ear pressed to his warm skin. 

A steady _thump… thump… thump…_

Shouyou sits up, hope overwhelming him. That sound, and the feeling of something beating from within Tobio's chest, means the hunter is still alive. Now—to keep him that way.

It takes Shouyou a while to pull Tobio's body over the rocky formation he took refuge in. Once he manages, he grabs hold of each of the big man's feet, hoisting them up under his arms—and with more effort than he'd care to admit, he begins to slowly drag Tobio through the grass on his back. His destination is a little cave some ways off where he can better tend to Tobio's wounds. 

Shouyou is overflowing with questions. What had happened to Tobio, and why was he alone? What did he mean that his clan was gone? They couldn't all be dead—Shouyou would have seen the evidence. But surely they wouldn't have left him behind in this state. Shouyou glances over his shoulder—Tobio's head bumps gently from side to side as Shouyou pulls him along, his arms dragging limp through the grass behind him. It doesn't seem like he'll wake any time soon. Shouyou's questions will have to wait.

 _If_ it's true that Tobio is alone… does that mean Tobio is clanless, now? It may be terrible of him, but Shouyou feels himself brighten at the prospect. Now _he's_ saved Tobio—big, strong, warrior Tobio, who nevertheless will need a place to call home. Perhaps that home can be with Crow Clan. _Perhaps…_

Shouyou looks back at him again and grins happily. The thought of returning to the village with one of the strongest warriors of the plains by his side, loving and devoted to him, is better even than the sweetest of night visions. And Tobio would be a great boon to the clan, with his strength and fighting prowess. 

Cheered substantially, Shouyou resumes his singing. He may not have any hares, but what he _has_ caught feels like a much more substantial prize. He can't wait for Tobio to wake up.

*

Tobio has been awake for barely long enough to allow the sky to darken, and Shouyou has half a mind to knock him unconscious again.

"I want to go." 

"No," Shouyou says, for at least the tenth time. 

Tobio glares at him from where he lies on the ground of the cave. The light from the fire Shouyou has built makes black shadows dance on the wall behind them, leaping and falling with the flickering flames. Tobio's shadow is much more mobile than the man himself, because Tobio isn't supposed to be moving at all. 

"Why?" Tobio asks. 

"Because you'll die," Shouyou tells him. He puts a hand on Tobio's chest and lightly presses down. Tobio grunts. "You can't even walk!" 

"I _will…_ walk…" Tobio struggles to sit up against the very meager force Shouyou is exerting on him, face twisting in a pained grimace. Even now, Shouyou can see splotches of blood through the poultice he has wrapped around Tobio's torso, leaves and herbs and animal skin. But the bleeding has at least slowed considerably. 

Shouyou watches him until he gives up, slumping back against the ground, out of breath and defeated. 

"You need to rest," he says. Tobio huffs in frustration. Shouyou huffs back. "You haven't even thanked me." 

Tobio continues to not thank him, but he does shut his eyes, so it seems like he's listening. Satisfied, Shouyou returns to watching the fire.

It's a trick. Shouyou startles awake some time later at the sound of something scraping around inside the cave. The fire has burned low, and he squints through the darkness, until he can make out… 

"TOBIO!" he barks. "What are you _doing?!"_

A figure writhes across the ground near the mouth of the cave. Shouyou hears a painful wheezing sound coming from it, and he springs up, furious. 

"Stop!" he commands. He storms over to plant himself squarely in front of Tobio, hands on his hips. 

_"Move,_ " Tobio hisses. 

"Not happening," Shouyou says. 

"Let me go!" 

"To _where?"_ Shouyou demands. 

Tobio opens his mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. For a moment, he just stares up at Shouyou. Then his eyes drop to Shouyou's feet, then the dirt below them, before he sags with them, all the fight gone from his weakened limbs.

"I don't know." 

There is something so heavy in the words, something that makes Shouyou crouch down and lay a hand on the dark head of hair at his feet. 

"I'll help you."

Tobio can barely crawl, let alone walk. Shouyou can't imagine how long it took him to make it all the way to the cave exit. He doesn't really want to try imagining it, not with how pale Tobio looks after Shouyou helps him settle back on the soft furs, his teeth clenched in pain again.

"Now do you see?" Shouyou asks. He gets a grunt in response. "Tobio. What happened?" 

"I tried to leave."

 _"No._ " Shouyou rubs at his forehead, which is beginning to ache. He's sure this is Tobio's fault. "How did you get hurt?" 

Tobio stares up at the ceiling of the cave, silent. Then he grunts, "Sabertooth."

Shouyou thinks he must have misheard. "What?"

"Big tusk cat," Tobio says slowly, like Shouyou is stupider than he is. "It tried to eat me."

"But you _survived?!"_ Shouyou bursts out. "How? You should be—" Nothing but a pile of bones picked clean. 

But Tobio gives his first real smile at that, although his grin looks more like a grimace. "I fought it," he says. "Until it ran. But…" 

He heaves a huge sigh, and one big hand comes to rest on top of his covered stomach. He seems very upset with himself, but the fact remains that he's still alive, even when nobody, _nobody,_ should have been able to survive a run-in with a Sabertooth. 

"Tobio… that's…" Shouyou breathes in and out slowly, and it doesn't calm him down at all. "You're so—strong! _Super_ strong! _Gwah-BAM, BATOOM, YABOW_ strong!" 

He's up on his feet before he realizes, hopping about and howling in amazement. Tobio stares at him, completely stationary, his brow furrowed in utter mystification.

"Yes," he says, "I know." 

"But then—" Shouyou stops his dancing and frowns. "Why were you alone?" 

At this, Tobio's expression darkens. He turns his face away. "How long?" he asks instead.

"For what?"

"Until I'm better," he says. "Until I can go."

Shouyou sits down again. "I don't know," he says hesitantly. He has not forgotten his eventual marriage plans, but it seems like now still isn't a good time to bring them up. "We have to wait and see."

"Tomorrow?" 

"No!" Shouyou swats at his shoulder and Tobio scowls in displeasure. "For now you have to lay there and not run away again or it'll take longer."

Tobio scoffs, harsh and loud. But this time he says, "Okay." 

*

The skyfire comes and goes and returns again, and over the course of the next few days, Shouyou learns that as amazing as he finds Tobio, there are many things he can do that Tobio can't. 

Crow Clan has never tried to get by on strength alone. They rely on their ingenuity, on their survival skills, and on each other. Shouyou is their fastest and most enduring hunter, but even though this is his main role, he knows how to do many other things. There are lessons he has learned from his tribe, passed down through generations. 

He isn't their best healer, but he knows enough about mixing herbs from Hitoka and Tadashi to make the poultice that keeps Tobio's wounds from festering. He doesn't know the names of every plant like Kei and Asahi, but he can tell the sweet berries from the bitter ones, or worse, the ones that kill. And he may not be able to stoke a blaze that burns to the great blue above, like Yuu and Ryuu, but he can make a fire big enough to warm them and cook their food so they can eat without fear of getting sick. 

That Tobio _doesn't_ know how to do any of these things shocks him. All he knows how to do is hunt. 

"That's all they taught me," he says, when Shouyou asks. He always seems most captivated when it's time for Shouyou start a fire, as the light that creeps inside the cave from outside begins to fade into colors like spring wildflower blossoms, pink and purple and orange.

"Didn't you ever want to learn other things?" Shouyou asks. 

Tobio frowns. "I'm good at hunting."

"I can see that," Shouyou says, and doesn't point out that this entire situation they're in is a result of Tobio's near-fatal experience, while hunting. He still suspects there's more to the story, but Tobio hasn't wanted to tell him anything. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't know anything else! I'm good at hunting, too—" Tobio makes a sound like a bog toad croaking, which Shouyou realizes is a laugh. "I AM!" 

"You are tiny," Tobio says scornfully.

"That doesn't mean anything!" Shouyou shouts. "And besides, even if I'm ti—not as big as you, look at everything I can do that you _can't._ " This makes Tobio shut his mouth. He looks very angry. Shouyou pokes his cheek and he growls. "Do you want to _learn?"_ If Tobio is going to become part of Crow Clan, he'll have to. If he's not willing…

But Tobio slowly nods his head. Shouyou beams at him. 

"We'll start at first light," he says. 

The next day, first light breaks and wanes. With it wanes Shouyou's patience. 

"No," he says, smacking a bright red berry out of Tobio's hand before he can put it in his mouth. "You can't eat that one. I _just_ told you this!" 

"You told me about all of those at once!" Tobio protests. He points at the pile of berries Shouyou has collected in front of him. "I can't remember everything!" 

Shouyou flops onto his back on the cave floor. They've been at this for hours. "It's not that hard! Those berries are really _gwoooh…_ they're bad."

"They're the same color red as the ones you said are sweet like _gwaaaah!"_

"Almost," Shouyou says, "but not quite! And if you don't get it right, you can't really make the same mistake twice!" 

Tobio blinks at him. "Why not?" 

"Because you'll be _dead,"_ Shouyou says. He sighs. "Those berries kill you. How can you remember seasonal mammoth migration patterns, but not this?" 

"I like hunting," Tobio says. "Plants are boring." 

Shouyou can't really argue that, but nonetheless… "They're _important._ Why didn't anybody teach you this stuff?"

"Nobody wanted to," Tobio says. "It took me too long to learn. They said I should just hunt, because it's what I'm good at." 

Shouyou stares at him. What Tobio is saying isn't wrong. He is _very_ slow to pick up these other skills, so Tobio's clan seemed to have placed all their faith in him as a hunter. But they hadn't taught him anything else necessary to survive. And look where that got him. 

Slowly, Shouyou exhales. 

"You _are_ good at hunting," he says. When he turns, he sees Tobio looking back at him. "But I don't think that means you _shouldn't_ be good at anything else." 

Why should it? Shouyou himself is not very good at most things; but that doesn't stop him trying to get better.

"Maybe berries is too… boring," he concedes. "But, what about lighting a fire?" 

Tobio's eyes light up like the very word itself. "I do want to learn that," he says excitedly. For the first time there's a hint of a real smile on his face, instead of the sullen pout he's been wearing since he woke up injured and immobile. Then his eyes shutter with doubt once more. "But I've never tried before." 

"You can't try right away, you can barely sit up," Shouyou points out. "I'll explain how to do it… just watch me. Later, you can try for yourself." 

Tobio gives him another slow, considering nod. "Okay. I'll watch." 

For the next few days, that's mostly what he does. Rather than get impatient, as Shouyou had thought he might, Tobio is attentive whenever it comes to the lessons on fire starting. And the more he learns to listen to that, the more he seems able to pay attention to other things Shouyou tries to teach him. 

One thing Shouyou discovers is that Tobio is competitive, and he doesn't like being wrong—particularly not when Shouyou is _right._ This becomes more than enough incentive to goad him into learning more on his own. 

Soon, he's able to at least avoid the dangerous berries, even if he can't name all of them off the top of his head. He also learns how to make a poultice, and then how to help Shouyou clean and dress his wound, which is better than him growling ungratefully in irritation as Shouyou bandages him up without any assistance. 

"It's hard," Tobio grunts one day, as he tries to hold the bandages in place well enough to wrap around his torso. They keep slipping, and each time they do, he grows increasingly more frustrated. 

"Yes," Shouyou says, tongue caught between his teeth as he tries to wind the strip of leather around Tobio's back. "But it's easier with two of us!" 

Tobio makes another noise of agreement, and then is silent until the task is done. When it is, he says, "You still did it."

"Hmm?" Shouyou hums, checking the bandage.

"When it was just you," Tobio says. "You still did it. Even though it was hard."

"Oh!" Shouyou says. He plops himself down in front of Tobio—the other man is able to sit up now, although Shouyou knows anything too strenuous still hurts him. "Well, I had to. You'd've died, otherwise." 

"I know," Tobio says. "But. I was mean." 

Generally speaking, Tobio is still fairly mean. But Shouyou has realized that it's not on purpose. Usually.

"You didn't trust me yet," he says. "Don't worry about it." Tobio's brow furrows deeply, like he's upset. Shouyou crosses his arms. "Do you trust me now?" 

Tobio blinks at him. "Yes." 

Shouyou grins at him. "Well, good," he says, "because I think it's time you start helping me with the fire." 

The next few days pass with surprisingly few mishaps, and only a few burned fingers between the two of them. Tobio is impatient, and the sound of their yelps bounces off the cave walls more than once after a particularly close brush with the flames. To his credit, the larger man sits relatively still and accepts Shouyou berating him profusely while he dabs cooling salve on Tobio's fingers. 

The skyfire has cooled to blackness far fewer times than Shouyou expected when Tobio manages it. He still puffs his cheeks out hilariously as he blows on the hot wood to fully light it, and Shouyou laughs so hard at him that he almost misses it when it happens. 

"It's—it's lit!" Tobio shouts suddenly. "Look, it's burning, it's _burning!"_

Shouyou wipes the tears from his eyes and scrambles over to look. And sure enough—

"Fire!" he shrieks. "You did it! You made fire!" 

"I MADE FIRE!" Tobio bellows. He grins triumphantly back at Shouyou. Even though Tobio's smile is really very scary, like one of the giant river lizards Shouyou had been unfortunate enough to encounter once before in his life, it still makes Shouyou feel as warm as the fire Tobio lit. 

The occasion calls for a feast… or as much of one as they can indulge in when the mighty hunter out of the two of them has been stuck in a cave for days on end. But Shouyou had successfully managed to bring down a giant hog close enough to the cave that he could drag it back with him. He would never have been able to carry something so large all the way to the village, but together the two of them could likely finish it off right where they were. 

"No fair!" Shouyou shouts, struggling to reach the hog haunch Tobio has grabbed from the fire to hold above his head out of Shouyou's reach. Their shadows tussle high and dark on the cave wall behind them in time with the leaping flames.

Tobio holds him at bay, smiling evilly all the while. "This is my fire," he says. "My meat."

"It's ours!" Shouyou argues. "You couldn't make it without me!" 

Tobio considers this. "I'll _let_ you have some," he concedes. "In my clan, the strongest eat first, so you should be happy." 

"In _my_ clan, we all eat together," Shouyou says. "And besides, I'm stronger than you right now." 

This pulls a dissatisfied grunt from Tobio, but he doesn't disagree; and he lets Shouyou divide up the food more equally. They eat in silence, aside from their rabid chewing. It's delicious, and it tastes even better knowing it was a joint effort. Shouyou eyes Tobio in the light of the fire. 

"Tobio," he says, wiping his mouth with his hand, "why were you alone when I found you?" 

Tobio freezes. He doesn't meet Shouyou's eyes when he confirms what Shouyou has suspected for some time, now.

"My clan left," he says. 

Shouyou still can't understand it. _"Why?"_

"Because… I wanted to track the mammoths. But Sabertooth had already picked up their scent. The others thought it was too dangerous. I thought I could still hunt them on my own." He stares into the fire, mouth set in a grim line. "I was wrong." 

Hesitantly, Shouyou moves closer to sit near him. "But… you managed to fend off Sabertooth on your own. If they'd been with you—"

"They could have gotten hurt because of me," Tobio says. "They were right to leave me."

Shouyou frowns. "Well, maybe you're right." Tobio opens his mouth to respond, but Shouyou cuts him off. _"But_ maybe you're wrong. There's no way to know now. I just know that whatever dumb thing you decided to do, I wouldn't have left you."

Tobio is silent for so long that Shouyou thinks he probably made him mad. Then he drops a heavy hand into Shouyou's hair to squeeze the top of his head so hard Shouyou is worried it'll pop. 

"Ow, ow, ow!"

He's about to apologize for the "dumb" comment, when Tobio shoves the rest of the pig leg in his face and tells him, "Eat." 

Shouyou looks up at him. "Huh?"

"Because you helped me," Tobio says. "Eat."

"Really?!" Shouyou chirps. "Thanks!" 

It's only after he's wolfed down almost all of it that he realizes he ate a lot more than his share, but Tobio doesn't seem to mind. He hasn't even yelled once.

"Hey," Shouyou says, later on when the fire has burned low, "how come you wanted to learn how to make fire so badly?" 

Tobio contentedly pokes at the embers with a stick. "Makes meat taste better."

*

Shouyou wakes the next morning to find himself alone in the cave. 

He sits up. The pale light pooling inside the cave mouth means it must be early morning. He can clearly see the whole of the cave—Tobio is not there. 

Shouyou calls for him anyway. His voice is scratched from sleep and worry, bouncing off the cave walls and back to his own ears. "Tobio?"

There's no response. Of course there isn't. When he feels the furs where Tobio slept, they aren't warm. He had finally recovered, healed enough to move around without much difficulty. Did that mean… 

The fear pounds within Shouyou's chest as he scrambles to his feet. He doesn't want to think it… but Tobio had never stayed in the cave of his own free will. Now that he doesn't need to depend on Shouyou anymore, has he decided enough was enough? Was he gone for good? 

He stumbles from the cave out into the still cool breeze, and sees no sign of Tobio. But then he spots something else, something that freezes even colder inside him than his previous worries. 

There are footprints in the dirt outside the cave, man-shaped ones. But there are other tracks, too—not made by a man, but by a beast, large and padded. Shouyou knows those tracks; and more importantly, to avoid them. But _where is Tobio?_

Then he hears it. A guttural roar in the distance.

His feet carry him so fast toward the sound that he feels like a black feathered bird that soars where the clouds are, like he's not even touching the ground at all. He runs all the way to the trees of a sparse forest sprouted in the midst of the grassy plain, and just inside them, he finds Tobio.

Tobio, and Sabertooth. 

Tobio has a spear in one hand and a stick in the other, flames burning bright from the end of it. A _torch,_ the kind Shouyou had taught him to make, and he's using it to keep the fanged beast at bay. It must have been the firelight that had caught Sabertooth's attention in the first place—but what is Tobio _thinking?_ Can he truly still want to kill it?

"Stop!" Shouyou screams. 

His voice wrenches Tobio's attention away from Sabertooth, and Tobio's eyes go wide. "Get back!" he shouts.

In that moment of distraction, the great cat pounces. The same hunter that brought Tobio low before drags him to the ground again and all Shouyou can do is watch, helpless. 

Except—he has helped. More than he knows. 

Shouyou watches, sick with fear, as Sabertooth knocks Tobio on his back. Last time, Tobio had been overpowered and nearly killed. With a roar to rival Sabertooth's, Tobio grapples with the big cat as it snaps its teeth right in front of his face. His torch has fallen in the dirt next to him, the flame burning low. Even with all his strength, he's just barely keeping Sabertooth at bay, the jaws getting closer and closer to taking off his nose by the moment.

"Shouyou, run!" 

Shouyou clenches his fists. He won't run. He's not going to let Tobio get eaten, not after how much effort it took teaching him to light a fire.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" 

Shouyou's shout doesn't draw Sabertooth's attention, but the heavy stone he hurls at it does when it bounces off its side. It snarls and whirls to face him, leaving Tobio free—but now all its attention is on Shouyou. It starts to advance on him, teeth bared, but then Tobio is on his feet and making a racket, shouting at it at the top of his lungs, waving his torch back and forth as the flame blazes back to life. 

Caught between them, Sabertooth seems to think better of its chances. Tobio was strong enough to hold it back and he has the light that burns, and now Shouyou has doubled his strength.

Sabertooth's final glare is for Tobio, who doesn't drop his eyes until Sabertooth does first. With a final, frustrated growl, it takes a step backwards… then another… before turning tail and slinking away into the underbrush.

Tobio heaves a great sigh, and lowers his torch. Shouyou rounds on him, mouth open wide.

"Th-that was _incredible!"_ he screeches. 

Tobio pats himself down, but apart from a few scrapes seems otherwise unhurt. "Not really."

"Yes, it was!" Shouyou can hardly believe it. A moment ago he was terrified for Tobio's life, and now— 

"It was mostly because of you," Tobio says. 

"What?" Shouyou gapes at him before swelling in indignation. "Are you trying to blame _me_ for the fact that you almost got _eaten—"_

 _"No,_ " Tobio says, thudding his fist on top of Shouyou's head. "I used what you showed me."

"What I…" 

Tobio holds up his hands; his fingers are stained bright red. "I used the fire to get Sabertooth to follow me. And I tricked it into eating a piece of meat that had juice from the killing berries on it. I think that made Sabertooth weak enough to give up." 

_"Wahhh…_ " Shouyou breathes. "That's… really smart! When did you get so smart?" Was that thanks to Shouyou, too? "But why were you trying to make it follow you?! That was so dangerous!" 

"I know that!" Tobio snaps. "But it smelled the meat and tried to come into our cave! And I couldn't let it eat you!"

"Oh," Shouyou whispers. "You… for me, you…" 

Tobio draws himself up to his full height, tall and proud. "You looked after me. So now, I will protect you." 

Before Shouyou knows what he's doing, he's launching himself at a surprised Tobio, flinging his arms around the big man's middle. "That was dumb!" he shouts. It's not really what he means to say, but it's true, and he can't stop himself. "I would have helped you! Why did you do something so _dumb?!"_

Tobio seems frozen for several seconds. But then he murmurs, "Even if it was dumb, you still didn't leave me." 

Two warm, strong arms wrap around Shouyou in return, and when Shouyou looks up it's to see Tobio staring down at him with all his usual fierce intensity. But this time that scary blue gaze comes closer, closer—until their foreheads and noses are touching, and Shouyou can feel Tobio's soft puffs of breath on his face. 

"I won't leave you either," Tobio says, like a challenge.

"Then will you come back with me?" Shouyou asks, eyes wide. Tobio's face is _right there._ "To my village?"

Tobio scoffs before he even finishes. "I _have_ to." He puts his hands on Shouyou's face. "There's a lot more I want to learn." 

Shouyou beams at him, and puts his hands on top of Tobio's. "Good. Because there's a lot I want to teach you!"

His cheeks feel even warmer than the rest of him, under Tobio's fingers. And when Tobio presses his mouth to Shouyou's, it feels like his face, and inside his chest, _all of him_ is burning—like there's a skyfire, blazing bright and strong inside him. 

And since it was Shouyou who taught Tobio to light it, from now on they'll keep it burning together. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!! As RC put it, this is "just one of our stupidest and best brainchildren" and we hope you enjoyed it <3 Check out the full view of her amazing artwork found in this fic [here](https://twitter.com/reallycorking/status/1332764739995398149?s=20)!
> 
> For other projects by me and RC, check out the links below:  
> [Our collab works on AO3!](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/essiecorking)  
> [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter (sometimes NSFW)  
> [@reallycorking](https://twitter.com/reallycorking) on Twitter
> 
> Back to The Job next week! Not sure which of my stories to read while you wait? **[Check out my guide to my KageHina fics on Carrd!](https://esselle.carrd.co/)**


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